Rotary take-up for sewing-machines



A. D. SMITH.

ROTARY TAKE-UP FOB SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1918- Patented Feb. 3,1920.

2 SHEETSSHEE| l A. B. SMITH.

ROTARY TAKE-UP row sEwmG MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 198. 1,329,631 Patented Feb. 3,1920.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- use of FTQE,

ALBERT D. SMITH,

OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

ROTARY TAKE-UP FOR SEWING-hIACI-IINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Take-Ups for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention, a division of my Patent No. 1,261,170, dated April 2, 1918, for improvements in sewing machines, relates to a rotary take-up for sewing machines.

he primary object of the invention is to provide an improved rotary take-up by means of which a relatively large slack of upper thread may be produced for passage around a lower thread case or receptacle, and to accurately control the slack thread without danger of tangling and breaking the same, especially when operating at a high speed.

The production of a larger slack of upper thread than required in the ordinary machine is necessitated in this instance by the comparatively large lower thread receptacle having a thread capacity considerably greater than is found in prior sewing machines on the market. Thus, by the use of a large lower thread supply, especially in factory sewing, much time and labor is saved that was heretofore necessitated in the frequent rewinding and replacement of bobbins which carried a very limited supply of thread.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a rotary take-up devoid of auxiliary take-up devices, spring and gear actuated thread controls, spring-acting thread detainers and similar parts cooperating with the take-up proper for controlling and detaining the slack thread. Such auxiliary de vices, thread checks and detainers are found to be unsatisfactory and impractical, in that they complicate the construction and operation and cause the thread to break and become Wound and tangled in the take-up. These undesirable features I have obviated by the provision of a pair of closely positioned rotary plates connected together by but a single eccentric pin disposed relatively close to the periphery of the plates and constituting the sole means within the periphery of the plates for operating on the thread. Ihave also provided a wall or guard circumscribing the plates andshaped in a pe culiar and advantageous manner to properly Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 25, 1918.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920. Serial No, 224,475.

guide and control the thread as it enters and leaves the take-up.

A further feature of my improved take-up is to produce the relatively large slack of thread mentioned above by means of a take up of minimum diameter. This is attained by arranging the thread guides so that the thread will enter and leave the take-up at substantially the same point, or rather in such proximity that the slack produced is equal to substantially twice the diameter of the take-up.

These and other objects will be apple ciated as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following de scription when considered in Connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a face view chine head illustrating my connection therewith;

Fig. 2, a side view thereof;

Fig. 3, a detail in perspective of the r0- tary take-up casing, detached from the machine;

Fig. l, a perspective, partly in section, of the take-up disks or plates; and

Fig. 5, a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

My improvements as mentioned above, are particularly adapted for use in connection with a lower thread receptacle of relatively large capacity, such for example, as is illustrated in my patent mentioned above. In to facilitate a clear understanding of the present invention, I have but briefly in di-cated in the drawing a lower thread receptacle in connection with a rotary hook such as disclosed in said application. This lower thread receptacle or case 6, stationary in a raceway in the rotary hook structure 7, is adapted to carry any of various sized spools, from small to relatively large size, and to even carry a ball of thread, in which latter capacity is many of a sewing maimprovements 111 case, the thread times greater than 'is possible with any previous machines on the market. As eX- plained in my patent, this lower thread receptacle necessitates the production by a take-up mechanism of a large slack of up per thread in order that this thread may be passed by a lower hook 8 in a loop of the requisite size around the lower thread receptacle. It is with this object in mind and the desire to provide a simple and practical construction which will not break or tangle the thread, especially when operating at high speed, that the present improvements pertaining to the take-up have been devised.

T have, therefore, illustrated, only such parts of a sewing machine as are necessary for a clear understanding of the present in vention. The parts shown consist of a work plate 9, head 11, needle bar 12, presser-bar 13 and driving shaft 1 1. The open face of the head 11 is closed by a take-up container designated in general by reference character 15 and illustrated in detail in Fig. 3. This container, in the form, of a circular plate having a central aperture 16 and a raised peripheral flange or wall 17, is provided at its lower end with a face plate 18 shaped to fit over the lower end of the head 11 and to carry suitable means for guiding the thread to and from the take-up. The container may be detachably secured to the head by any suitable means, such as by screws.

The rotary take-up proper consists of a pair of circular plates or disks 19 and 21 of slightly less diameter than the interior of the flange 17, fixedly secured together by a take-uppin 22 positioned adjacent to the peripheral edge of the plates. The rotary plates, coaxial with the driving shaft 14;, are fixedly connected thereto through the agency of a coupling 23 passing through the aperture 16 and connected to the plate 19. The needle-bar crank is not essential in thedriving connection, as my improvements contemplate driving the rotary plates by mechanism of any suitable construction. It will be observed that the flange 17 forms a circumferential wall about the thread compartment interposed between and formed by the spaced disks 19 and 21 and that the lower portion of the flange is cut away to form inclined thread guides 2 and 25, noted in Fig. 5, the purpose of which will presently appear.

The upper thread taken from a spool, not shown, suitably mounted on the head of the machine is passed through a suitable tension device and thence enters between the take-up plates from the lower side thereof in. the manner indicated in Fig. 1. In the present illustration of my, improvements, the thread tension is mounted on the lower extension 18 of the take-up container and consists of springspressed tension disks 26 mounted on a post '27 fixed to said plate 18. The upper thread, after passing through the tension 26 is guided. by the inclined surface 21 to enter between the rotary take-up plates at the lowermost side thereof, thence passes over and around the pin 22 and leaves the take-up in close proximity to the entrance point of the thread thereto. It will be noted, viewing 2, that by reason of the lower portion of the flange 17 being cut away, the outer disk 21 of the take-up projects slightly beyond the inner portion of the inclined edge 24 of said cut-away. This surface 2 1 guides the thread after it leaves the tension and directs it to the inner side of the outer disk 21 so that the thread will properly enter the take-up. After leaving the take-up, any suitable guide means, such the members 28, may be provided, directly above the needle so that the thread will pass directly to the same. By means of this arrangement, when the take-up pin 22 is carried to the point A indicated in Fig. 1, a slack of upper thread will be drawn equal in length to substantially twice the diameter of the take-up. It will be particularly noted that this relatively large slack of upper thread is produced by a takeup of minimum diameter, including but a single eccentric pin, and that neither auxiliary take-up devices, spring checks, detainers nor extra studs are employed.

At the time the looper or rotary hook 8 takes the upper thread from the needle the take-up pin 22 has reached a position indicated approxi ately by the dotted line l3, and it follows that substantially the full amount of slack produced by the take-up is at this point loosely contained between the take-up disks before being drawn down by the looper. In order to prevent this slack thread from passing out of the take-up by the actionof gravity and centrifugal force, to avoid the use of spring detainers, etc., and to allow proper passage of the slack thread from the take-up as the thread is required in forming the lower loop. l. have positioned the take-up plates 19 and 21 in such close proximity and have so arranged the peripheral wall 17 and inclined guide surface 25 as to. effect a tension or resistance on the outgoing thread for controlling the same during this period. There is an instant in the operation of the machine when the full slack of upper thread produced in the take-up is loose therein and seemingly uncontrolled before being drawn down by the rotary take-up. This slack thread as already mentioned, is controlled during this period by the relatively close walls ofthe 21, peripheral flange 17 and the resistance created by the passage of the out-going thread over the inclined surface 25.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of my improvements andof the objects-prefaced above, and it should be understood that while I have illus trated but a single embodiment, various changes might be made in i take-up including a palrof spaced rotary an eccentric thread drawing member plates,

connecting said plates, and a wall circumdisks 19 and they construction and arrangement without departing fro1nferentially disposed about said plates and constituting the peripheral wall of the thread chamber, that portion of the wall disposed at the underside of the take-up being cut away on both sides of a vertical plane intersecting the axis of the take-up to form inclined guides, one of which permits entrance of thread to the take-up and the other withdrawal of thread therefrom, said wall cooperating with said plates to cause a tension on the thread in its passage from the take-up.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination of a pair of spaced concentric take-up disks joined and held in rigid relative relation by but a single thread-drawing member disosed near the periphery of the disks and iiaving a circular peripheral thread-engaging surface, means connected concentrically to one of the disks for revolving them about a horizontal axis, means for guiding the thread so that it enters and leaves the space between the disks from the underside thereof whereby the length of thread between the disks at the highest Joint of the concentric thread-drawing mem ers will be twice the diameter of the take-up, and a wall or flange circumscribing the disks in close proximity to the periphery thereof and having an elongated cutaway at the underside of the disks through which the thread enters and leaves the space between the disks.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination of a sewing machine head having an open end, a take-up container closing said open end and detachably connected to the head and shaped to provide an annular outstanding flange and further shaped to provide a central coupling opening, a pair of disks disposed within said annular flange, a takeup pin connecting said disks and holding them in rigid spaced relation, a needle-bar driving shaft concentric with the disks, and means extending through the central opening in the take-up container and connecting the innermost disk rigidly with the needlebar driving shaft.

4 In a sewing machine, the combination with a head, a take-up container detachably connected to the head and formed with an annular outstanding flange or wall, a pair of take-up disks disposed within said annular flange and connected by a take-up pin disposed near the periphery of the disks, means for rotating the disks, said annular flange having an elongated cutaway below the disks through which the thread enters and leaves the space between the disks, and thread-guiding means below the peripheral flange for guiding the in and out going thread which passes through said elongated cutaway.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with a head, a take-up container detachably connected to the head and formed with an annular outstanding flange or wall and with a depending face plate, a pair of take-up disks disposed within said annular flange having an elongated cutaway below the disks through which the thread enters and leaves the space between the disks, and thread-guiding means mounted on said depending face plate and arranged to guide the in and going out thread which passes through said cutaway.

In a sewing machine, the combination of a pair of vertical take-up disks arranged in relatively close proximity to form a narrow thread compartment, a single take-up pin joining said disks near the periphery thereof and constituting the only thread operating means in said compartment, and a peripheral retaining wall or flange about the disks in close proximity thereto and having an elongated cutaway at the underside of the disks through which the thread enters and leaves said thread compartment.

ALBERT D. SMITH. 

